Dr Peter Beaumont says health officials and department staff are using the title "Enhanced Health Services Delivery Initiative" when referring to programs associated with the intervention into Indigenous affairs.
He says not using the word ‘intervention’ would be beneficial for long-term outcomes in Aboriginal communities.
"First impressions are really important," he said.
"Our first impression of what we see or hear is important and the mere fact that this has got a terminology that is indicating an ongoing commitment and not just a knee-jerk reaction is really important.
"For quite a while now many of us have been saying its unfortunate this has been called an intervention because that seems like a knee-jerk reaction and there is a new name the Commonwealth is using and it shows quite clearly an ongoing commitment to the improvement of Indigenous health in Australia."
The intervention was launched by the previous federal government last year, in response to a report into the neglect and abuse of Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory.